The new Rare?

[darkjak]

Which company do you consider to be the successor to Rare? For those who are a bit young, Rare were, second to Nintendo, the main developer for the N64. They brought out everything from platformers (Donkey Kong 64, Conkers Bad Fur Day, Banjo Kazooie), racers (Diddy Kong Racing, Mickeys Speedway), action games (Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini) and first person shooters (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark). All these games were awesome and until this day I regret I didn't get Jet Force Gemini or Conkers Bad Fur Day while it was reasonably cheap.

But quite exactly 10 years ago Nintendo sold their shares in Rare to Microsoft and since then there have been no Rare games for Nintendo consoles and to be honest, Rare haven't released a single good game since then. It's gone so far that Microsoft don't see them worthy of developing anything with a mention worth budget.

 

 

So, what company is worthy of filling this gap? To me the only two studios that could be in question are Retro Studios and High Voltage. What are your thoughts?

[or else you will DIE]

Retro Studios, I guess. However, I don't believe they will ever be able to "fill the gap" that Rare left behind. Saying that though, it's hard to say seeing as Retro hasn't released much.

 

I had read somewhere that Nintendo were pissed at Rare because they were so slow at making games. Surely this can't be true?

 

I miss Rare. I wish they would make games for the 3DS...or do I? Ports may be a better choice. Killer Instinct Gold 3DS plz

[Kav]

High Voltage Software?! Are you having a laugh?! They've not made a quality title to date and you mention them in the same sentence as Retro Studios! That is a joke beyond jokes!

 

Retro Studios are definitely a developer that could bring forth the best as a 2nd Party.

[Zechs Merquise]

High Voltage Studios? You must be taking the piss???

 

They've released two games for the Wii. The Conduit was a reasonable shooter but nowhere near the best on the system, trailing behind three COD games, MOHH2 and Goldeneye. They also released Tournament of Legends which was just budget shovelware and was one of the worst critically recieved games on the system.

 

How does that make HVS anything like Rare??? People still talk of Rare games being some of the best examples of those genres. Neither of the HVS games are anything near that.

 

Retro on the other hand have produced the best disk ever burnt - Metroid Prime Trilogy, which was composed of three of the most magnificent games ever made. What's more they made DKCR, which is absolutely amazing! In my eyes they are the as good as Rare.

[Ren of Heavens]

Definitely Retro. Nintendo bought them around the time when they sold their Rare shares.

 

Metroid Prime was a milestone. DKCR is just as good as the old Rare trilogy. I hope and think their next move will be a brand new IP.

[Cube]

With games like Kameo, Viva Piñata and Nuts & Bolts; Rare is the new Rare.

[flameboy]

Like everyone else have to say retro because there is simply nobody else out that. I think donkey kong reiterates that they have become nintendos go to company!

[daftada]

I don't think one single dev sits in the Rare seat, instead Nintendo have a bunch of smaller developers that collectively make the sorts of titles you'd have expected from Rare: Retro Studios, Good Feel, Monster Games and Skip. In a way Rare was almost like a collection of developers, seeing as the studio structure meant that 3-4 teams within Rare focussed on different genres (FPS, racing, beat-em-up, platform) almost competing against one another.

 

Despite a drop in quality (although I personally loved the last B&K game) I wish Rare had never left Nintendo. I would have loved to have seen what they could have done on the GC and Wii graphically, and their sporadic releases would have at least given us something to look forward to in Nintendo's lean periods. I also miss their constant teasing of new projects and the gossip/rumours that they generated in forums and in magazines.

 

Oh well, maybe they'll return for the 3DS/Wii 2

[The Peeps]

With games like Kameo, Viva Piñata and Nuts & Bolts; Rare is the new Rare.

 

Add Kinect Sports to that. I was very impressed.

 

I have to say that a lot of my favourite games are Rare games and they were definitely the driving force of the N64.

[Zechs Merquise]

With games like Kameo, Viva Piñata and Nuts & Bolts; Rare is the new Rare.

 

There was also Perfect Dark Zero and Grabbed by the Ghoulies. I think Rare did lose their way, but it would still be interesting to see what they would have done had they remained with Nintendo.

[Cube]

There was also Perfect Dark Zero and Grabbed by the Ghoulies. I think Rare did lose their way, but it would still be interesting to see what they would have done had they remained with Nintendo.

 

Yes, but we don't talk about those two.

 

Add Kinect Sports to that. I was very impressed.

 

I think it does look like what Wii Sports should have been, but the costs the device needed are a tad too high.

[Mokong]

I would have loved to have seen what they could have done on the GC and Wii graphically

 

Starfox Adventures :wink:

 

When Rare were sold to MS I was at the time hoping Silicon Knights would have been the team to step into their role. Especially after Eternal Darkness came out, but they too went to MS later.

 

As everyone else has said Retro are certainly currently the best 2nd Party there is for Nintendo. I'd like to see them come up with an original IP and see how they can run with that, but I wouldn't mind seeing what they could do with other Nintendo franchises that we've still yet to see this generation. Like F-Zero or 1080, certainly would be something different from them too.

[Shorty]

With games like Kameo, Viva Piñata and Nuts & Bolts; Rare is the new Rare.

Pff. None of these titles comes close to the quality of Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Conker's BFD, the SNES Donkey Kong games or Jet Force Jemini. In fact, Free Radical's Timesplitters 2 was much closer to the quality of Rare's greatest games than any of those you mentioned.

 

I think you're still in denial.

[LostOverThere]

To clarify, Mokong X-C, Retro Studios are a 1st party developer. Not 2nd.

[Cube]

Pff. None of these titles comes close to the quality of Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Conker's BFD, the SNES Donkey Kong games or Jet Force Jemini. In fact, Free Radical's Timesplitters 2 was much closer to the quality of Rare's greatest games than any of those you mentioned.

 

I think you're still in denial.

 

I'm not. A big thing about Rare wasn't just the quality: but the quantity and variation of the games, too. New Rare is still the closest thing to Old Rare when you combine those three together.

[Zechs Merquise]

Starfox Adventures :wink:

 

When Rare were sold to MS I was at the time hoping Silicon Knights would have been the team to step into their role. Especially after Eternal Darkness came out, but they too went to MS later.

 

As everyone else has said Retro are certainly currently the best 2nd Party there is for Nintendo. I'd like to see them come up with an original IP and see how they can run with that, but I wouldn't mind seeing what they could do with other Nintendo franchises that we've still yet to see this generation. Like F-Zero or 1080, certainly would be something different from them too.

 

Silicon Knights were another Dev team which produced a couple of gems for the GC, Eternal Darkness and MGS:TS. Then they went to Microsoft and produced the massive flop that was Too Human!

 

On the PS3 side of things the excellent Factor 5 ended up going to the wall with the flop that was Lair after making such great Star Wars games on the GC and N64.

 

Nintendo's support seems to bring out the best in certain developers and when they leave Nintendo's side they simply don't seem to perform anymore.

 

Also, as Shorty said, Free Radical's Time Splitters 2 and Future Perfect were better games than anything Rare has done post Nintendo.

[Cube]

Also, as Shorty said, Free Radical's Time Splitters 2 and Future Perfect were better games than anything Rare has done post Nintendo.

 

And then they went on to make the PS3-exclusive Haze and died.

[Zechs Merquise]

And then they went on to make the PS3-exclusive Haze and died.

 

Yes, what happened with Haze was somewhat of a mystery.

 

With Lair you always knew it was going to flop as soon as it was annonced that you had to control it with the sixaxis motion control.

 

Too Human was bound to disappoint as it was soooo overhyped and had been indevlopment since PS1 days, shifted over the GC and then finally released. Too much hype and far too long in development.

 

Rare went downhill as key people left, eventually so did the Stamper brothers.

 

But Haze was more of a surprise as the dev team had played a major role in Goldeneye and also produced 3 great FPS games during the previous generation. Even if they had trouble with the PS3's tricky architechture I would have still thought the fundamentals like level design, characters, weapons and other cornerstones of the game would have been solid. Sadly that wasn't the case.

[Murr]

Do HAL Laboratory and Intelligent Systems count?

 

Intelligent systems worked on Paper Mario, Wario and Fire Emblem for Cube and Wii (Checks wikipedia....) Yep they did,

 

And those franchises have become pretty big hitters for Nintendo,

 

and as for HAL.... Kirby, Smash Bro's... Pokemon Stadium.

 

 

would of thought that these 2 developers are just as if not more important that Rare.

 

or am I way off the mark in this thread?

[Hero-of-Time]

Then they went to Microsoft and produced the massive flop that was Too Human!

 

I love that game! I never really followed all of the hype and bought it for the online co-op experience. I found the story a little wacky but I loved the gameplay. Building certain class warriors and then getting the best loot/weapons/armour for them was a blast. The loot system was a little like Monster Hunter, kill enemies and hope you get the drop you're after.

 

I think people expected too much from the game, which I can understand given the time it took to get a release, I mean it was in development since the PSOne days. It's just a shame I won't ever get to play the trilogy.

 

Despite a slight dip in quality over the years I still love Rare's games. I'm with Cube with his love for their 360 outings and I still think that Viva Pinata and it's sequel are some of the most original and colourful games to come out of this generation.

 

I also thought Banjo was a freakin awesome game. People just had to get around the idea that it wasn't the same as the first 2 games and enjoy it for what it was. The customization in the game was insane and I would love to see some of the stuff RedShell could come up with if given the chance.

 

As for Kameo, easily one of my favourite launch titles for any console. The soundtrack for that game was superb.

 

 

EPIC!!!

[Jimbob]

I had read somewhere that Nintendo were pissed at Rare because they were so slow at making games. Surely this can't be true?

 

Nintendo were more leniant towards Rare compared to Microsoft, the delays on Rare's own games made them entirely better than if they bought them out on the original schedule date.

 

I hear all the time with what would Rare have produced on the GC and at what quality if they had remained at Nintendo?. Star Fox Adventures showed me that Rare were showing signs of age, it wasn't a brilliant title. Yes it was good, but it was lacking something. Probably because Ninty ordered Dinosaur Planet to involve Fox and crew.

 

I still think that Rare could have been great if they stayed with Nintendo, because they would have been given the chances that Microsoft didn't give them.

 

Looking at the XBox and 360 games Rare have produced, they do show signs of old Rare. But at the same time, show to me that they aren't the same, they are missing the magic. Grabbed by the Ghoulies is one such title which lacked everything that made Rare great.

 

But, they showed signs of improvement on the 360. Kameo, PD-Zero (ok, wasn't as good as people say it is, but it is playable). Then they produced Nuts and Bolts, and in my opinion it wasn't good. I havn't finished it, which is a first for me.

 

The game was basically a cart-based game, with the characters of Banjo Kazooie tacked onto it. Rare themselves said it was 70+% customisation/trolly-based and the rest of the % being platforming. I saw no platforming, well hardly any and it was all cart-based and customising. The missions were linier, they all felt the same and it got boring.

 

Probably why Microsoft put them on the Kinect developers list, they can't do much right these days.

[Cube]

The missions were linier

 

Does linear now mean "build your own contraption and complete the mission in your own way"?

 

(ok, wasn't as good as people say it is, but it is playable)

 

It was barely playable.

[Fused King]

Do HAL Laboratory and Intelligent Systems count?

 

Intelligent systems worked on Paper Mario, Wario and Fire Emblem for Cube and Wii (Checks wikipedia....) Yep they did,

 

And those franchises have become pretty big hitters for Nintendo,

 

and as for HAL.... Kirby, Smash Bro's... Pokemon Stadium.

 

 

would of thought that these 2 developers are just as if not more important that Rare.

 

or am I way off the mark in this thread?

 

Definitely add to that list LEVEL-5 and BROWNIE BROWN.

 

The fact that Level-5's executive has said that he wanted to create a new franchise every year clearly shows that they are all about variety. Just look at their upcoming games and drool...

[Cube]

The fact that Level-5's executive has said that he wanted to create a new franchise every year clearly shows that they are all about variety. Just look at their upcoming games and drool...

 

Level-5 make non-Professor Layton games?

[darksnowman]

Level-5 make non-Professor Layton games?

 

Level-5 make Professor Layton games?